How to improve your local SEO rankings
Local SEO is the work that gets your business in front of nearby customers when they search Google for what you sell. If you run a shop, a trades business or any service with a catchment area, it often matters more than general SEO, because the person searching is usually close to buying. The encouraging part is that most of the improvements are free and within your control. These are the six that move the needle.
Why local search is different
When someone searches "plumber near me" or "coffee shop in Exeter", Google shows a Local Pack: a map with three businesses and their ratings, sitting above the normal results. Those three places take most of the clicks. Google decides who appears using relevance, distance and prominence, and every step below feeds at least one of those signals.
Step 1: Complete your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that powers your place in the Local Pack and Google Maps. Fill in every field: categories, services, opening hours, website, phone number and photos. Businesses with complete profiles get more calls, more direction requests and more website clicks than those with half-finished ones. Choose the category that matches your main service first, then add secondary categories for the rest of what you do.
Step 2: Build a steady stream of reviews
Reviews are the most direct prominence signal Google reads, and they are what customers judge you on before they ever contact you. Ask at the moment people are happiest, right after a job is finished or a purchase is made, and make it easy with a short link to your review page. Reply to every review, good and bad. Never buy reviews or collect them from friends in bulk: Google is skilled at spotting fakes, and the penalty is worse than having no reviews at all.
Step 3: Keep your name, address and phone number consistent
Google checks that the details on your profile match the details on your website, your social pages and the directories you appear in. A mismatch is enough for Google to doubt which business is which. Pick one format for your name, address and phone number, known as NAP, and use it everywhere. It is tedious work, but it is also the fix that quietly lifts rankings for a lot of local businesses.
Step 4: Create a local landing page for every location you serve
If you cover more than one town, give each one its own page instead of a single page that names them all. Each page should carry genuine local information: the services you offer there, the areas you cover and detail that could only apply to that place, not just a different town name in the title. We follow this rule on our own site, where /seo-in-devon and /seo-barnstaple are the only location pages we run, and every other service page targets national searches.
Step 5: Write content that answers local questions
Think about what your customers type before they hire you: "how much does a new boiler cost", "same day plumber Exeter" or "what does a loft conversion involve". Answer those questions on your site in plain language. Local customers often compare a few businesses before deciding, so a page that genuinely helps them choose earns both the click and the trust.
Step 6: Earn local links and citations
Being listed in reputable local directories, and being mentioned by local publications or organisations, tells Google your business is real and established. Start with the free directories and your trade association, then look for chances to be quoted or featured locally. One earned link from a local news site is worth more than a dozen from directories nobody reads.
Measure and repeat
Local SEO is not a one-off task. Check your Business Profile insights monthly to see how many people find you through search and maps, and run our free SEO report at https://victory.digital/run-a-seo-report to see how your key pages are performing and what would help them rank. Rankings drift on their own, which is why we track keyword positions and AI visibility for clients in Metrona.
If you would rather spend your time running the business, our SEO team can plan and carry out the local work for you. https://victory.digital/search-engine-optimisation
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